Amnesia
by sweetsunshine000
Summary: Kikumaru got hit in an accident, and now he has amnesia. What if he never gets his memory back? Feat. Kikumaru and all of the Seigaku Regulars. Chapter 5: Echizen. "That's not my name."
1. Waiting

**Author's Note: Woohoo! The official first day of summer. I can't believe school is actually over, and I just have two months to do absolutely nothing (plus a whole bunch of other stuff, but we'll get to that later). So far I have three stories in progress, and I'm trying to figure out how to get them all done. There's this one, He's Just Not That Into You, and an OC/Ootori/Shishido fic. For the Ootori fic, I have the first chapter done, but I just want to get a head start on a few more chapters before I post it. In the meantime, please enjoy this story, and review! Otherwise, where else am I supposed to get my motivation to write?**

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**CHAPTER ONE: WAITING**

Everyone was waiting in the hospital corridor, hands wet with sweat and foreheads creased with worry. Oishi paced back and forth across the room, talking nervously to Kikumaru's parents over the phone. This was the only sound being emitted among the regulars. Other than that, it was completely silent. No one dared to say anything. At that moment, one of the doctors walked briskly from the room, rapping his clipboard as he did so. Tezuka stood up from his seated position and approached him.

"How is he?"

The doctor rapped even harder on the clipboard and released a deep sigh before answering.

"He has some really nasty cuts and bruises, but we've already treated them and repaired them with stitches. Essentially, his body is in working condition, though he's going to have to take it easy for the next couple of weeks."

Some minor form of cheering could be heard from among the regulars as their stiffened bodies deflated with relief.

"However…"

The pleasure was shortly-lived as the room fell silent again. By now, even Oishi, who was currently preoccupied with the telephone, was listening intently.

"…he hit his head in the accident and has slight brain damage. He's suffering from post-traumatic amnesia."

"So he can't remember anything?"

The doctor shook his head.

"But won't he just regain his memory back naturally?" Kawamura spoke up. "One of our players had amnesia a few weeks ago, and he was fine within a couple of hours."

"Well normally he would, but this was a pretty severe head injury," the doctor explained.

"Which means?" Momoshiro asked.

"Which means there's a good chance he might never get his memory back."

Oishi dropped the phone.

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**Psst. There's a button at the bottom of this page. I heard if you click it, the Prince of Tennis characters come to life. **


	2. Inui

**CHAPTER TWO: INUI**

Inui had always been regarded by the team as the data master, the one who knew everything about everyone and could predict what you do before you do it. Then why couldn't he predict this?

When he was getting ready this morning, he had had the entire day calculated. They would play in the finals, win the tournament easily, then head over to the sushi restaurant to celebrate their victory as they normally do. It was because of Kikumaru that everything was ruined. Inui had always admired this about their fiery acrobat, his ability to defy all of Inui's data, but now he almost resented him for it.

Kikumaru gently woke up, eyes still blurry as a result of deep slumber. He tried to sit up, but a massive headache and the soreness of his body caused him to collapse back down. He was still so weak. As he merely lied there, bearing the pain, the door of his room opened, and in walked an anxious Inui, masking his emotions with a deep breath and a calm composure.

"Who are you?" Kikumaru asked, only able to lift his head up a few inches before resting it back on the pillow. Inui looked at the fallen acrobat intensely, studying him for a moment. In that instance, he could already name ten things that were completely illogical, including the fact that Kikumaru didn't emphasize the last syllable with a slightly higher pitch as usual.

"Inui Sadaharu," he answered. "I'm one of your friends from the tennis team."

Kikumaru blinked a couple of times. "I'm on the tennis team?"

"Yes, the rest of them are waiting outside."

At this statement, Kikumaru shifted his glance to the door as if inquiring why his other teammates weren't in the room as well. Inui sensed this and answered the question for him.

"We were only allowed to visit you one at a time, and I volunteered to go first."

The red head gave a limp smile to show he understood. It was a while before he actually spoke.

"Inui…what's the tennis team like?"

Kikumaru was staring out the window with an unfocused look in his eyes, a very un-Kikumaru characteristic.

"I suppose you don't remember, do you?"

Inui watched as Kikumaru turned back to face him, then went to staring at the foot of his bed.

"I remember playing tennis. I just don't remember being on the team. Is it fun?"

Inui almost couldn't help but smile. "With you it is."

Kikumaru cocked his head slightly to the side, contemplating this response.

"To be honest, Kikumaru, you're part of what makes tennis fun."

When Inui said this, something sparked inside of Kikumaru, and a fire lit in his eyes for a few seconds, only to have it die down as Kikumaru went back to staring out the window.

"Sounds exciting," he said rather coolly. "I kind of can't wait to come back."

"Well after seeing your condition, I doubt it will be anytime soon," Inui remarked, adjusting his glasses a bit as he did so.

"What do you think are the chances of me getting my memory back?"

When Kikumaru asked this, he swore he heard a sharp intake of breath.

"Truthfully?" Inui replied, noticing that deep behind the apathy of Kikumaru's eyes, there was a sort of innocence and naivety lying underneath, one that he couldn't bare to crush. "One hundred percent."

For the first time since Inui's been there, Kikumaru gave a genuine smile, a glimpse of the real Kikumaru trying to find his way out. At that moment, Inui was glad he was wearing glasses.

He didn't want Kikumaru to see that he was crying behind them.

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**Just so you know, there will be a chapter for each of the Seigaku regulars. All with Kikumaru of course. To be honest, Inui's was actually one of the harder ones to write. It took me forever to figure out what I wanted to do with his chapter.**


	3. Tezuka

**Author's Note: Geez, did I say Inui's chapter was hard? Tezuka's was even harder. I have to admit that I put this off for a little while. So I hope you won't let the crappiness of this chapter convince you to stop reading. Hopefully, my next chapter is much better. And for those of you who are wondering how Kikumaru ended up in the hospital, don't worry. You'll find out soon. *Cough* Next chapter *Cough***

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**CHAPTER THREE: TEZUKA**

After Inui had left, Tezuka was the next to enter the hospital room, carrying with him that authoritative demeanor as Seigaku's illustrious captain. However, Kikumaru did nothing in particular to even acknowledge his presence except shoot a quick glance in his direction that lasted merely a few seconds.

"You must be Tezuka-buchou."

Tezuka nodded, taking a seat next to Kikumaru's bed. "I trust that Inui has helped you with your memory?"

"Ah" was Kikumaru's detached response.

"Well, since no further introductions are necessary, I need to discuss with you our plans for when you're released."

Kikumaru reacted to this with an indifferent shrug of his shoulders as he upheld his most recent habit of staring out the window. Seeing this, Tezuka unconsciously gripped the paper he was holding on to tightly, not used to such passivity in the team's otherwise feeling maker.

"Here are the doctor's recommendations," Tezuka said, placing the sheet of paper on the bedside table. "He says you should be released in about three to four days. After that, I want you to attend a few sessions of physical therapy to regain your strength. There is one by our school that I would suggest."

Tezuka took the pencil he was already holding and began neatly scribbling the address of the physical therapy place on the piece of paper. Halfway through doing so, he paused for a moment to look at Kikumaru, who was simply lying there, waiting patiently for Tezuka to finish writing. When Kikumaru only remained quiet during this brief lapse, Tezuka went back to copying down the location, except now he pressed a little bit harder with the pencil than he should have, the brittle lead crumbling under the pressure and ultimately leading to a few smudges on the paper. He didn't bother to erase them.

The rest of the time Tezuka was in the room was spent on explaining the procedure Kikumaru would follow once he regained his position on the team. This being the object of their conversation was only to be expected, since Tezuka was never really big on sentiments anyways. Those who knew him wouldn't necessarily say that he had a problem with emotions. That wasn't the case. It was more of the fact that he had a problem of showing it, often doing so in the most subtle way possible. That's why when Tezuka kept the pencil in his hand solely for the sake of twiddling it between his fingers, Kikumaru could only arch an eyebrow. The former just didn't strike him as the fidgety type. What Kikumaru failed to notice, though, was that this was just simply one of Tezuka's ways of expressing his concern. He was worried, no doubt, and angry and uncertain and anxious, all at once. It _was_ mentioned before that feeling emotion was not Tezuka's main problem, right? But who could really blame him? To Tezuka, losing Kikumaru was basically like losing the other half. When the two were together, though Tezuka had to admit that those times were seldom, Tezuka would rarely talk and would usually let Kikumaru do it all for him. Now it was Tezuka that was doing all the talking, and when he wasn't conversing about tennis, it was pretty much just silence with nothing to fill the void.

"Is there anything you wanted to add, Kikumaru?"

Kikumaru shook his head. "Nothing."

For some reason, this aggravated Tezuka to the utmost extreme. Kikumaru wasn't usually like this. He _always_ had something to say. It was one of his most annoying and most loveable traits. Now look at him. Kikumaru was now more polite. He never spoke out of turn, and he actually paid more attention to what other people were saying. Basically, he was perfect, and Tezuka hated it.

Minutes went by, and the silence in the room was building. Neither of the two said anything as they followed their respective tendency of staring out the window and twiddling the pencil. It was nerve-racking, to say the least, especially for Tezuka, whose stoic mask was breaking with every second. Finally, it had come to a point where the pressure of silence became too much, and his composure snapped.

When Kaidoh entered the room next, he had to wonder why there were broken pieces of pencil on the floor.

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**Review please!!!**


	4. Kaidoh

**CHAPTER FOUR: KAIDOH**

Kaidoh kicked at one of the broken pieces of pencil on the ground and took the seat that Tezuka had just previously preoccupied.

By the time Kaidoh had entered the hospital room, Kikumaru had let the wooziness of his head get to him and had already fallen back asleep. Most would just consider Kaidoh unlucky because of this, but in reality, he actually preferred it this way. When Kikumaru shifted his arm slightly in a desperate attempt to hug the pillow, the corners of Kaidoh's lips turned upward just the tiniest bit. It was nice to know that some habits never change. As he continued to watch Kikumaru sleep, however, his lips eventually slipped back into its customary frown, and he clutched the edge of the bed with a tight grip, every vein in his hand becoming more apparent.

"I told you to watch where you were going," Kaidoh muttered as he bent over, hair hanging over his eyes and covering it with a block of shadow. "You never listen, do you?"

When Kaidoh received no answer, he released his hold on the bed, proceeding to lean back into his chair. Looking over Kikumaru's bruised and scarred body, he abruptly turned away, closing his eyes to try and stop the flurry of images rushing through his head. Still, no matter what Kaidoh did, he just couldn't seem to forget the tragic event of what had happened this afternoon.

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"_Sushi! Sushi! Sushi!"_

_Kikumaru and Momoshiro walked side by side, arms slung over each other's shoulders as they pumped their fists into the air in rhythm with their chanting. Kaidoh, who happened to be walking beside them, emitted a scoff at the sight and gave the pair a disconcerting look, one that was not missed by either of them. In response to this, the two of them approached Kaidoh, attacking him on both sides, Momoshiro on the left and Kikumaru on the right. Both of them wore the most child-like grins on their faces. _

"_Come on, Mamushi. Don't be such a downer," Momoshiro said as he rested an arm on Kaidoh's shoulder. "Today's a good day. You shouldn't ruin it. You just shouldn't."_

"_And we're about to get free sushi," Kikumaru added, hooking Kaidoh by the neck, much to Kaidoh's objections. "How can you not feel happy?"_

_Kaidoh continued to struggle against Kikumaru's grip, but with no success. _

"_Kikumaru-senpai! Too close!" _

_Kikumaru gave a playful pout, pulling Kaidoh even closer. _

"_Mou, Kaidoh-chan, don't be so hurtful. Besides, I'm keeping a close eye on you, nyaa. I'm not letting you steal all the spicy eel sushi like you did last time."_

_Knowing resistance would simply be futile, Kaidoh remained as he was, allowing Kikumaru and Momoshiro to hang off of him as they continued their chant. After a few minutes later of walking, Momoshiro stopped suddenly and pointed to something off in the distance._

"_Look! There's the sushi restaurant! I can see it!"_

_At this, Kikumaru pushed off of Kaidoh and broke away at full speed. _

"_Race you there, Momo!_

_Momoshiro was quick to react and went gallivanting off after his friend, trying his hardest to catch up with the energetic acrobat. _

"_Hey! Don't run so fast, Eiji-senpai!"_

_As Kaidoh merely stood there, watching after them, he almost had to wonder why he was associated with such people. At that moment, Kikumaru pivoted his head to look at Kaidoh, casting him his trademark victory sign. _

"_You better hurry, Kaidoh, or I'm going to eat all the spicy eel sushi before you do!" _

_Kikumaru quickened his pace, efficiently dodging all the bystanders on the sidewalk. However, as he was nearing the sushi restaurant, a roller-skater appeared out of nowhere from among the crowd and crashed into Kikumaru, pushing him out of the way off of the sidewalk and into the street. _

"_Senpai, watch out!" Kaidoh yelled, having seen the entire scene from his position, but he was too late. Not even Kikumaru's quick reflexes were fast enough to dodge the moving car that was coming his way. _

_After having jumped to try and avoid the car, the vehicle hit Kikumaru whilst in the air, and he hit the windshield with a sickening thud and went flying over the top. Luckily, the car had tried to slow down before hand so the impact wasn't as bad as it could have been, but the sight was still horrifying enough to make all the regulars cringe . As Kikumaru lied there, sprawled out on the street, he swore he could hear the voice of a certain second year calling out his name before everything became blurry and faded to black. _

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Kaidoh folded his arms, digging his nails into the skin. At the moment, the unnecessary urge to pound something was starting to seem really appealing.

"Che, you're so troublesome," he said, looking at the still sleeping Kikumaru. "Sometimes I wonder who the senpai around here really is."

Kikumaru did nothing to reply to this except unconsciously try to adjust his position in bed, letting out an aching groan as he did so. Wincing a bit at the painful cry, Kaidoh stood up from his seat, preparing himself to leave. He just couldn't stand sitting here any longer and being forced to look at Kikumaru in his time of suffering. Letting out a deep breath, he made his way to the door, but not before taking the bandanna off his head and tying it around the rail of the hospital bed.

"Do you best, Kikumaru-senpai," he said as he finished the knot. With that, he stole one last pensive glance at Kikumaru and exited the room.

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**Just for your information, this story doesn't coincide with any of the episodes from the anime. Yes, some of the things mentioned are from the manga/anime, but like the tournament in the story is just a random tournament. It doesn't have anything to do with the Kantou tournament or the Nationals or anything. **


	5. Echizen

**CHAPTER FIVE: ECHIZEN**

Echizen leaned back against the cold surface of the hospital chair, cap pulled firmly down over half-lidded eyes.

"_What a nice weather, nyaa. It makes me feel so happy. Don't you feel happy too, ochibi? I have a really good feeling about today."_

Emitting a sigh from his lips, Echizen let his mind wander as the doctor was busy presenting information of Kikumaru's progress, paying no attention to it at all. Still, that didn't stop Echizen from catching the hint of bad news.

"However…"

His eyes flashed open, now facing the inside of his white cap as he strained to hear what the doctor had to say next.

"…he hit his head in the accident and has slight brain damage. He's suffering from post-traumatic amnesia."

"So he can't remember anything?"

Even though Echizen couldn't see the doctor shaking his head, the distressing silence that followed was answer enough.

"But won't he just regain his memory back naturally? One of our players had amnesia a few weeks ago, and he was fine within a couple of hours."

"Well normally he would, but this was a pretty severe head injury."

"Which means?"

"Which means there's a good chance he might never get his memory back."

Echizen let out a small gasp, which was disguised by the clatter of an object as it hit the floor. The room fell silent for a moment as everyone took the time to completely register this misfortune.

"_Could you please get off of me, Kikumaru-senpai?"_

"_Nope! Ochibi is just so tiny and cute. It makes me want to hug him all day long."_

"Hello? Are you still there?" Oishi asked nervously after a while, having picked up the fallen object. He walked out of the room quickly to relay the news to the Kikumaru's parents.

Still seated, Echizen remained unresponsive, arms propped lazily behind his head, as he listened to further discussion.

"Are you serious?"

"He might never get his memory back?"

"This can't be happening."

"I can't believe it."

Out of the entire debacle of muttered phrases of disbelief, Tezuka's voice was distinct among them.

"May we see him now?"

The doctor hesitated for a moment but eventually replied, "He's still unconscious as of right now. I don't know if—"

"It's fine," Tezuka interjected, remaining stoic in his stance. Echizen practically shivered from the chill he received at the intenseness of his captain's tone. Tezuka has never interrupted an adult before while speaking.

"Okay, I will allow you to visit him, but due to the delicacy of the state he's in, I don't want to overwhelm him. You should probably go in one at a time."

Tezuka looked at the doctor as if he were about to protest, but complied to the request all the same.

"Inui," he mustered suddenly in his low monotone. The room held its breath.

"Yes Tezuka?"

"Do you mind going first?"

"No, I don't," Inui responded, his voice containing a bit of nervousness to it. Standing up, Inui made sure to bring his notebook along with him for extra measure. As he passed by Tezuka to proceed to Kikumaru's room, all he heard were three words muttered from the captain's mouth.

"Good luck, Inui."

"Ah," was Inui's reply. He entered.

As soon as Echizen heard the soft click of the door closing, he sprung up from his seat, ignoring the surprised reactions of everyone who had believed him to be asleep.

"Getting a drink," he said before leaving the waiting room briskly, not even bothering to look back.

Echizen wandered the halls aimlessly, mind apparently preoccupied with other matters. When he finally came across a vending machine, he placed his money into the coin slot and retrieved his usual Ponta. Loitering the narrow hallway to drink it, his eyes stared unfocusedly off into space.

"_You're really weird sometimes, Kikumaru-senpai. You know that?"_

"_Humph, you say that now, ochibi, but just you wait. One day I'm not going to be here anymore, and you're going to miss me. You'll see."_

Could that day be closer than he thought?

By the time Echizen returned to the waiting room, Kaidoh had already finished with Kikumaru and was now closing the door of the room behind him. Immediately, before anyone could mutter any opposition, Echizen interjected himself past Kaidoh and entered the room himself. The other regulars had nothing but shocked faces on the matter. Whilst inside, Echizen watched as Kikumaru continued to sleep. However, unconsciously sensing a certain presence in the room, the red head started to arouse from his slumber soon enough. When he noticed Echizen, he simply emitted a bored sound of curiosity.

"Hmm, you seem familiar."

Echizen did nothing but continue to stare at Kikumaru with an oddly concerned look on his face.

"Is something wrong? You're not saying anything."

No response.

"Ah, I know who you are," Kikumaru said after some thought. "Inui has definitely told me about you, Echizen Ryoma."

Echizen clenched his fists at this statement. "What happened to you?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Kikumaru looked confused. "What are you talking about, Echizen? You're rea-"

The next thing Kikumaru saw was a pounding fist as it connected with the side of his face. Fortunately, Kikumaru still had the reflexes to partially dodge it, but the part that Echizen managed to hit throbbed painfully.

"Ow! What the hell was that for, Echizen?!"

"That's not my name!" Echizen yelled, eyes glazing over with tears. Trying to hide his pained expression, Echizen pulled down the cap of his hat to cover his eyes, voice being reduced to a scratchy whisper. "That's not my name."

When Echizen appeared out of the room only two minutes later after he went it, tear streaks staining the sides of his face, the other members of the tennis team didn't exactly know what to say. They could only watch as Echizen kept on walking, eventually making his way toward the hospital exit and placing a firm hand on the handle.

"Hey, where are you going, Echizen?" Oishi finally managed to speak up.

Echizen didn't even bother to answer before he slammed the double doors shut.

"Geez, that Echizen," the vice captain sighed. "He's been acting rather rash recently."

"Everyone's been acting differently since Kikumaru…." Fuji let his words fade, unable to complete the sentence. Over on the seat next to Fuji, Momoshiro struggled to hold back his emotions. He simply couldn't take it anymore.

"Tezuka-buchou," the second year mustered, standing up as he did so.

Tezuka turned to face Momoshiro, a sudden gleam gliding across his glasses as if he was taking significant notice of this sudden outburst.

"What is it, Momoshiro?"

"Buchou, if you don't mind," Momoshiro stuttered, bowing to show his respect, "please let me be the next person to see Eiji-senpai."

Tezuka crossed his arms and stared sternly ahead, taking this into consideration.

Finally, he nodded.


End file.
